Riding a wave of the Belt and Road Initiative and the fast-developing China-Serbia partnership, over 40 Chinese companies are showcasing their products at Premium Agricultural Brands of China in Serbia 2017, an agriculture exhibition in the northern Serbian city of Novi Sad, which officially opened recently. It is a part of the International Agricultural Fair.

Speaking of the Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation, which concluded in Beijing recently, Chen Zhou, vice-chairman, China Council for the Promotion of International Trade, promised to create more platforms to promote bilateral cooperation and create conditions for trade and investment, information exchange as well as more legal services in trade.

“This will create new opportunities for cooperation between Chinese and Serbian companies and contribute to the development of the comprehensive strategic partnership between the two countries,” he said at the opening ceremony.

Tian Yishu, charge d’affaires, Chinese Embassy in Serbia, said, “China is a large agricultural manufacturer and a big consumer of agricultural and food products, while Serbia is rich in natural resources and its agricultural products and meat are of very high quality.”

Zeljko Radosevic, state secretary, ministry of agriculture and environmental protection, Serbia, said, “China has granted Serbia certificate to export lamb, adding that conditions are being created for Serbia to get certificate from China to export beef and pork, dairy products and food products of plant origin.”

He added, “The agriculture ministers of the two countries signed a memorandum on joint trade and investment in agriculture at the Belt and Road forum in Beijing, which provided a basis for an increased exchange of agricultural and food products and organic products and created conditions for direct investment by China in the Serbian agriculture and food industry.”

“An important goal for us is to attract Chinese investment in the food processing industry and to implement modern technologies and know-how, especially in new products and production lines in the areas of fruit and vegetable processing,” Radosevic said.

“Companies from China and Serbia should use the opportunity to achieve new breakthroughs in agriculture either by starting joint production or exporting agricultural products to third markets,” suggested Tian.

He said that within the framework of their comprehensive strategic partnership, the two countries have achieved fruitful results in the areas of infrastructure, construction, energy, telecommunications, education and culture.

The Belt and Road Initiative was proposed by Chinese president Xi Jinping in 2013 with an aim to build trade and infrastructure networks connecting Asia with Europe and Africa along the ancient Silk Road routes.